Well-done

Saturday

Jun 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2007 at 12:18 PM

Today, Karen A. Holbrook wraps up five years as the 13th president of Ohio State University. She can walk out the door of Bricker Hall one last time, assured that she's leaving a better university than the one she came to in October 2002.

Today, Karen A. Holbrook wraps up five years as the 13th president of Ohio State University. She can walk out the door of Bricker Hall one last time, assured that she's leaving a better university than the one she came to in October 2002.

The second in command, Provost and Executive Vice President Barbara Snyder, also is saying goodbye. The two have done much to boost the quality of academics at the university.

During the Holbrook administration, the university became more selective about its admissions.

For the 2006-07 school year, 45 percent of the freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their high-school classes, compared with 33 percent in 2002.

More students now stay and graduate from OSU instead of washing out because they're unprepared: In 2006, 91.5 percent of freshmen returned as sophomores, compared with 86.5 percent in 2002.

Significantly more students are graduating within six years: 71 percent in 2006, compared with 56 percent in 2002.

Because of the greater emphasis on academics and research, OSU is ranked eighth among public institutions for research spending.

The university has leveraged its rising reputation to lure world-class scientists from other big-name institutions. And under Snyder's guidance, OSU decided in 2006 to focus its wealth of brainpower and resources on research projects that have the potential to change the world, such as preventing cancer, finding sources of clean energy and maintaining enough fresh water to sustain life. Undergraduates take part in that research.

As they depart, Holbrook for retirement in Florida and Snyder to lead Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University, they can be proud of the job they've done at OSU. Central Ohio owes them its thanks.